Confusion
by Mibamonster
Summary: Oneshot. Rose is sent on a mission: to eliminate a strange group of vampires living near Forks. When she gets there, it turns out these sparkly creatures aren't like normal Strigoi or Moroi. What the hell is she supposed to do now? T for language.


_Carlisle Cullen – Strigoi? Sired: Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett. Mates with Esme._

_Edward Cullen – Strigoi? Can read minds. Sired Bella. Fathered Renesmee_

_Bella Cullen – Strigoi? Immune to vampiric powers. Mother to Renesmee_

_Renesmee Cullen – Dhampir? _

I looked at the list Dimitri had given me. Next to every name were small pictures of pale, beautiful faces. They didn't have the appearance of ordinary Strigoi, though: their eyes were gold, rather than red, and they looked healthier than most Strigoi did. They obviously weren't Moroi either, so what other than Strigoi could they be?

'So I find them, I kill them, I get back and you'll make me dinner?' I said, folding the sheet and putting it in my pants pocket. 'That shouldn't be too difficult.' Still, I didn't feel comfortable leaving Lissa alone.

Dimitri smiled and kissed my cheek. 'It won't be.' He caught my worried look and said, 'Don't worry about Lissa. You'll be gone for a couple of hours at most and I think I and the rest of her team of guardians are more than capable of keeping her safe.'

'You'd better,' I muttered. 'Right, I'm off. I'll keep you updated.'

'Have fun.'

'I will.' Before I stepped into the airplane, I threw my arms around him and pressed my lips firmly to his. Someone wolf-whistled, but I ignored him. When finally Dimitri pulled away, he was wearing a broad grin rivalling my own.

'Keep Lissa safe,' I said. 'Love you.' I turned around and entered the airplane. It was small, with only six luxurious, white chairs in it, not including the cockpit. As I was wondering if I could have a peek in there while the plane was flying – that would be only _too _awesome – I took in my surroundings. Small windows, no baggage holders, but with tables between the chairs, and only one other person present, someone who was vaguely familiar.

Judging from the golden lily tattoo on her cheek, this woman was an Alchemist. She had dark hair, held up in a neat bun, and was wearing a light grey suit. Very classy, if a little bit boring, but that seemed to be the Alchemists' style.

I held out my hand to her before sitting down on the chair opposite hers. 'Hello. I'm Rose Hathaway. Nice to meet you.'

She nodded curtly, but did not shake my hand. 'Miss Hathaway. We've met. I'm Donna Stanton, an Alchemist.'

'I'd gathered as much.' I took a closer look at her. 'Have we met? Really?'

'Briefly at Court, last year after the… incident of your escape.' She didn't meet my eyes, but was reaching in her bag. I made myself comfortable while I waited. I had to hand it to those Alchemists, they travelled in style. Maybe this small mission wouldn't be as annoying as I'd thought.

'So, why is it that I'm being sent to Forks?' I asked, when it seemed she wasn't about to make conversation. 'Why can't someone else do this?'

She finally seemed to have found what she was looking for, and got up. She placed a pile of papers on the table between our chairs. The first page read, in big font,

CULLEN ASSASSINATION, FORKS, WASHTINGTON, USA, BY ROSEMARIE HATHAWAY, 3 OF MAY 2012

_Assassination. _That would make me an assassin. That was kind of cool.

I got the pile of papers and flicked through it. Every page contained a colour image of my targets, with a list of their habits and family relations. It sounded like a seriously messed-up vampire coven. Strigoi, living together with so many and _siring children on humans_? I'd never heard of anything like that.

'They're fast, these vampires,' Donna Stanton said. 'And strong, but nothing you can't handle, I'm sure.'

I was just reading about a certain Alice Cullen, who was apparently psychic. 'Of course I can handle it,' I said absent-mindedly. 'These powers they're said to have – is that true? Because if one of them can read my mind, that _will _complicate things.'

She nodded. 'Yes. It is going to be hard. Which is why we're sending you – you're one of the best guardians around. And these vampires must be stopped; they're causing turmoil with both the Volturi and the royal Moroi. Not to mention the godless things they get up to – the creatures they create.' A shiver went through her and I knew she had to be thinking about that Renesmee. Even I was disturbed by that, and I hadn't been raised with the belief that all vampires were bad.

'Okay, so what we have is one vampire who can read minds, one who seems to be a walking pack of muscle – can I assume he is stupid, by the way? He looks positively retarded.'

Stanton cracked a little smile. 'If you're referring to Emmett Cullen, then I can inform you that he is not the brightest, no, but he _has _had several decades more of experience. I wouldn't underestimate him just because he looks like a baboon.'

'Right. Other than the baboon, we have someone who can see the future, which is _definitely _going to suck… three normal vampires, one vampire who is immune to vampiric powers?' I raised my eyebrows. 'What does that mean?'

'We aren't sure – all we know is that the powers of the Volturi guard didn't have any effect on her. But seeing as you don't have vampiric powers, this shouldn't matter too much, right?'

'Right. And then lastly, there is this dhampir-kind-of-thing? How did that happen?'

'We don't know.' It was obvious how much this bothered her; Sydney, too, had hated it when she didn't know something. 'They say the child was conceived through sexual intercourse, but what Strigoi would have that with a human? ' I kept very silent at this – after all, I wasn't exactly a human… 'She is very strange and definitely not a dhampir like you; she needs blood, and she ages rapidly.'

'How rapidly?'

'In the beginning? She had the physique of a one-year-old when she was only days old.'

I whistled softly. 'That is one strange dhampir.'

She nodded again. 'Also, we didn't think Strigoi could sire normal children, which makes some Alchemists believe these might be Moroi, but…'

This was what confused me most. 'You're not sure what kind of vampires they are.'

'No.'

'So you might just be sending me out to kill Moroi?'

'No. Miss Hathaway, trust me on this: whatever they are, they are not Moroi. And this is none of your concern anyway. All you have to do is go there and kill them.'

Well, at least that was clear.

* * *

'Then turn right when a path appears,' I read aloud from the route description I'd been given. The airplane had landed in Port Angeles Airport and now I'd been on the road for about an hour and a half, including a short break to stock up on the essentials: water, chocolate and a silver knife. Not that I was planning on using that – I had my stakes and an axe lying on the back seat – but it was best to be prepared.

Just before I'd got off the airplane, Stanton had given me another bout of unexpected news. 'Oh, when you're there, there might be shape shifters.'

'Shape shifters?'

'Their shapes shift.'

I felt like telling her those lame puns were my job, but she continued, 'They can change into wolves. Once of them is "imprinted" on the dhampir and will probably do anything he can to protect her. We thought they were enemies, but that seems to have changed.'

So now I was nearing a house filled with vampires with extra abilities, aided by werewolves, with some sort of scary, fast-growing dhampir. If anything, I'd probably have something to tell when I got back to the court.

The driveway was well-hidden, but I spotted it nonetheless. It looked as if cars passed here regularly; not exactly like on the interstate, but enough to leave several different tire trails in the mud. I followed the road, until I arrived at a modern house with loads of windows. Not something my Moroi would choose, seeing as it allowed for a lot of sunlight, and it was definitely not a place where Strigoi were likely to hang out.

Then again, the weather _was _awful. They might never see the sun here.

Before I'd even opened the door of my car, a small girl appeared in the house's doorway. She had to be around my age, but was at least a foot shorter than me, and I'd never been very tall. Her black pixie cut was what made me recognize her; this was Alice Cullen.

'Who are you?' she asked.

'Bond. James Bond.' I got the two stakes from the back seat and put them in the special stake-holders my belt had. She stared at them, confused, but her puzzlement turned into shock when I pulled out the axe.

Another vampire appeared next to her. Red hair, the upper half of his shirt unbuttoned, his hair styled just too much… It's that I knew he had fathered the scary dhampir, otherwise I would've thought he batted for the other team. Edward Cullen. The one who could read minds.

'Edward, who is this?' Alice asked.

'A… A Vampire hunter?' He looked bewildered, his brow furrowed. 'Are there vampire hunters?'

'Apparently,' Alice said. She was eyeing my axe. 'She's not a werewolf, though, is she? I – I can't see her.' There was an edge of panic to her voice and I remembered: this was the one who could see into the future.

What did she mean, 'she can't see me'? She was looking at me right now. Or was it possible that she meant she could not see my future? If that were the case, it would make this so much easier. But I shouldn't assume this task would be that easy. There had to be a catch.

'Who of you would like to go first?' I asked, holding up the axe. 'If we make this quick, I might be home in time for _Ringer_.'

The male vampire – Edward – whispered something to Alice, who took off into the house. She was probably going to get the other vampires, which meant I had to use this moment to my greatest advantage. He was alone; if I struck now, that would be one less in the giant fight that was sure to follow.

Suddenly I wondered if maybe this was a sort of suicide mission the Alchemists had sent me on, even though my name was cleared and I'd been on good behaviour the last months. If these were Strigoi, I'd be facing eight of them within several seconds. Why had they sent me on my own?

_Better think of that later_, I told myself. I grabbed one stake tightly and advanced on Edward, who was now in a crouching position. We moved around each other, until I was almost with my back to the door, something I didn't like.

'Who _are _you?' he asked.

'Aren't you the one who can read minds? Shouldn't you already know this?' I lurched for him, but he stepped aside. Damn, he was fast. But if he could read my mind, he might just be cheating.

'Cheating?' he said. 'You're trying to kill me and you talk about _cheating_?'

This was definitely the one who could read minds. 'It takes the fun out of the game. Like guns.' He didn't look like he understood, and I doubted he ever would. I feinted, but he saw through me and the next thing I knew, three other vampires came out, followed by a girl who looked about sixteen and was definitely not a vampire. The dhampir.

_Okay. Now what, Rose? _

There were a few things I had to ascertain before I acted. Where were the other vamps? Were they still in the house, waiting until I was vulnerable so they could attack me? Or were they not at home? Which one should I take out first – the thought-reader? The other three were Alice, who could see the future but not me, apparently, Jasper, and Bella.

'Is _she_ trying to kill us?' Bella asked, giving me a once-over. 'A human? And you're worried?'

'She's tougher than she looks,' said Edward.

'She'd better be, because I can handle this,' said Jasper. He was quite bulky himself and looked smarter than Emmett had done in the pictures. But that wasn't what gave me a nervous itch in my stomach. This Jasper's arms and neck were covered in hundreds of faint, white scars. This was a warrior.

_They could've told me that._

_Best to take him out first_, I thought, at the exact moment that he stormed up to me. He was fast, but so was I; and unlike me, he didn't expect his opponent to be strong. We were both surprised when he almost ran into my silver stake.

'Well, that was easy,' I said, after I'd given the stake another good push so I was sure it was in his heart. 'Pride comes before the fall, eh?'

Alice let out a shriek and ran for her lover's side. 'Jasper? Jasper!' She shook him violently, but I knew it was useless. The moment that silver stake hit his heart, he was done for.

I was unsettled now, though. Never before had I seen Strigoi this upset, this caring about others. No, that wasn't true; I'd seen one care this much. But that hadn't been out of love, and this looked like it might be.

_What kind of vampires are these?_

As if to make matters weirder, this was the moment the wind pushed the clouds away from the sun. The meadow in which the house stood was filled with sunlight and for a second, I hoped that this would be the end of this strange trip because they'd just burn in the sunlight.

Except, you know, they didn't.

What they _did _do was something so weird, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.

You see, the vampires – scary, bloodthirsty creatures of the night, out to destroy/snack humanity, etc. – these vampires started sparkling. _Sparkling_. As if they had covered themselves in an entire packet of glitter before coming out of the house. Or just coming out in general.

'The fuck is this?' I muttered. 'It's the sun. Why aren't you burning?'

Bella let out a laugh, though she did not look amused. 'You're a vampire hunter and you still believe vampires do that?'

'I'm a vampire hunter and I _know _vampires do that,' I corrected. 'What _are _you guys? The disco balls of doom?' As I was talking, I moved closer to Alice, who wasn't paying any attention to me. Before I could do anything, however, Bella let out a loud scream and thrust herself at me. We fell back over the two vampires at my feet.

I was struggling to get a grip on the battle again, but Bella was strong. Clenching my stake more tightly, I managed to roll over so I was on top of her, while she was pulling my ponytail. That bitch.

'You can't do this,' she said, looking frightened. 'You can't – I'm Bella! I'm too pure and innocent to have bad things happen to me without my boyfriend to clean them up for me while abusing me!'

That was the strangest thing any vampire had ever said to me before I was about to kill them. Too bad for her, it didn't make me hesitate longer than it took for me to say 'The fuck?' I pushed the stake through her heart. Within a second, she was dead too.

Only now that I really had to do the pushing did I notice how hard these bodies were, like they were made of stone. Strigoi generally weren't softies, but this was another extreme.

Once the deed was done, I got up and turned around to face the other two vampires. Edward seemed nailed to the ground, as was Renesmee. Alice, however, had got up from Jasper's body and was looking at me with eyes wide from realisation.

'You're a guardian,' she said.

'Yes.'

She choked. 'The Volturi sent you.'

Had they? Stanton _had _mentioned them, said that these vampires were causing trouble for the Moroi world _and _the Volturi, but I doubted I'd been sent by them. Or maybe I had been. 'They might have,' I said.

'Who else would've?' she asked, confused.

'That doesn't matter,' said Edward. He seemed to have regained his thinking ability and walked over to me. With his vampire speed, it took less than a second for our noses to be almost touching each other.

'You killed my Bella,' he said menacingly. When he was finished, a low growl came up from his throat.

I lifted my chin and shook a stray lock of hair from my face. He thought he was scary? Please. I could hardly feel intimidated by someone who was sparkling more than Lissa had done in her princess Belle dress when we were seven. 'So I have. Want to join her?'

'Yes.'

My jaw dropped. 'Excuse me?'

'I cannot live without her,' said Edward. 'I can't. You have to kill me.'

What was _wrong _with these vampires? Honestly? Didn't they have a single vampiric bone in their bodies? 'You… want me to kill you?' I asked. I was confused, but stayed alert; if this were a distraction method, it was a damn smart one. But not smart enough to get me.

He nodded. 'Do it quick, before the pain becomes too much.'

'Dad!' called the dhampir. 'What are you doing?'

He must have thought I wasn't acting fast enough. In the millisecond I was distracted by his daughter, he grabbed my stake and put it through his own heart. Still clutching it, he fell to the ground; first his knees buckled, then the rest of his body.

I couldn't do anything but stare for a couple of seconds. 'He just killed himself,' I said, to no one in particular. 'The vampire I was supposed to kill… killed himself.'

The dhampir looked at her father's body. Then at her mother's. Even if she was the most messed-up creature I'd ever met, I had just killed her parents (sort of), and I felt a tiny bit guilty. Cue my surprise when she started to laugh.

'Finally!' she said. She ran over to Alice and threw herself in her arms. 'Alice, they're gone! They're gone! We can go too!'

Alice was hugging the dhampir fiercely, but looking at me over her shoulder. 'Wait just a second, Carlie,' she said, before giving the girl a peck on her cheek. 'This might not be over yet, and don't forget, there's still Jacob.'

Jacob – I had heard that name. Who was he again?

'Listen,' said Alice. She let Carlie go and held up her hands, to show she wasn't armed – with anything other than her fangs, that is. 'Listen,' she said again. 'I know you were sent here to kill us. But please keep Carlie – Renesmee - and me alive. We'll come with you, if you want, but…'

'You don't… What? I'm sorry, but what are you asking of me?' I said.

Alice and Renesmee – Carlie? – exchanged a look.

'We love each other,' Alice finally said. 'We have for some time now, but we couldn't… We couldn't give in to it. We've been waiting for a moment to get away, but Edward – he always knew when we were up to something, and Bella would've caused a huge fuss, not even to mention Jasper. He still thinks women belong in the kitchen, even if he doesn't eat anymore.'

This kept becoming stranger and stranger. Was I going to be some vampire psychotherapist? 'Ah… okay, well, that sucks…'

'It does,' said Renesmee. 'If we leave now, they might not find us. Jacob – he's a werewolf – he imprinted on me, but I just want to get away from him.' She looked close to tears; her face was all crunched up, and it wasn't pretty. 'I just want to go away. I don't want to die.'

This was already so weird, I decided I might as well just use the situation. 'I'll have to make a phone call,' I said, getting my cell phone from my pocket. 'If you move, you die.'

They both nodded. I called Stanton and was relieved when she picked up on the first ring. 'Donna Stanton,' she said. 'Rose? Are you finished already?'

'Well, that's an interesting question,' I said. 'I've killed Jasper, Bella and Edward, but now that Alice and Renesmee or Carlie or whatever she's called, they say they want to go away because they're… in love with each other?' I looked questioningly at the two girls, who nodded. 'They're in love with each other.'

'You killed Bella and Edward?' Stanton asked.

'Yes.'

It was silent on the other side of the line for a while. When Stanton came back, she said, 'Where is the rest? You haven't mentioned Carlisle, Esme, Emmett or Rosalie…'

'They're not here. Should I wait for them and kill them all, or…?'

More silence, until, 'No, you're finished. It was mainly Bella and Edward the Volturi had a problem with; they kept breaking rules, even rules that hadn't been invented yet. If you would send these Alice and Renesmee to our Alchemist on duty in Seattle, though, that would be much appreciated. We need to research them. After that, they're free to go.'

'Okay. Well, that's clear,' I said, as I hung up. Both nodded; for a second, I was confused, before realizing that with their vampire hearing, they'd probably heard every word. 'Are you all right with those terms?'

Alice nodded. 'We are.'

'All right then. I… don't feel much for driving you all the way to Seattle,' I said. 'And I don't know if I can trust your word… '

Renesmee stepped forward. I was immediately more careful, but all she did was place a hand on my arm. When our skin touched, my head was filled with images. Her and Alice, talking, laughing. Renesmee's feeling of entrapment. Her fear of Jacob. Their desire to go away as quickly as possible. Everything was as vivid as if I'd lived those moments myself.

'Whoa,' I said when she was done. 'That's one cool superpower.'

She shrugged. 'Do you believe us now?'

Though some part of me was telling me that this might just be a strange form of compulsion, a larger part thought she was telling the truth. Whatever they were, they weren't Strigoi and if there was no reason for me to kill them…

'Well, looks like I'll be in time for _Ringer _after all,' I said. 'This was a strange anticlimax.'

Alice smiled. 'All's well that ends well,' she said. 'Thank you. For letting us escape, for not killing us… If you ever need help, and you know where to find us… we're here for you. Come on, Carlie.' She hoisted the dhampir onto her back, waved at me, and took off into the woods.

'And Rose Hathaway saves the day again,' I said, as I climbed into my borrowed car. 'Killer of fake disco balls and promoter of lesbian rights everywhere. Huh.'

* * *

I missed _Ringer_, but Lissa had had it taped for me. When I sat down on the couch in her apartment that night, a bowl of popcorn in my arms, with Lissa on one side and Dimitri on the other, I felt a strange rest come over me. Yes, the mission had been strange, but it was like I had accomplished something: I had killed two very strange people; I had got two people happily together; and I got new information to the Alchemists, something they might pay me back for one day. About an hour ago, I'd had a call from them, saying Alice and Carlie had arrived and were cooperating. That was nice.

'So, Rose, how was your mission?' Lissa asked, grabbing a hand of popcorn. 'Was it worth leaving me for a day?'

I laughed and pressed 'pause' on the DVD. This was something that might take a while to tell. 'Well, it was definitely interesting…'

* * *

**A/N: I just couldn't stop from thinking how easily Rose could kick their asses... But I rather like Alice, and I pity Renesmee, so they survived. Anyway, reviews are appreciated, as always! **


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